The present invention relates generally to the securing of vehicles during shipment thereof and relates more particularly to a method and apparatus for securing wheeled vehicles such as automobiles by means of a tie down arrangement which engages only the inflated tires of the vehicle wheels.
The assembly of motor vehicles is most efficiently carried out in large, highly automated plants, the output of which may serve the needs of a large geographical area. The delivery of the vehicles to distribution points and dealers accordingly involves transportation of the vehicles over substantial distances. In order to preserve the new condition of the vehicles, they are commonly transported by truck, railroad, or, in the case of imported vehicles, by ship. The shipping of vehicles in containers facilitates their interchange between these several forms of transportation.
The conventional arrangement for securing vehicles during shipment involves the attachment of chains or cables directly to the frames of the vehicles. Although such "metal-to-metal" attachment serves its primary function of holding the vehicles in place, it has a number of disadvantages.
In the first place, it is expensive to equip the transporting device with conventional vehicle securing devices. In addition, they are usually quite heavy, adding to the weight to be transported. Furthermore, the conventional devices are apt to damage the vehicles, and there have been instances in which the frames of the vehicles were bent out of alignment, possibly because of improper tensioning of the devices, due to the unsuitability of the points of attachment of the devices to the vehicles or because of stresses resulting from shifting of the vehicles in transit.
Moreover, the conventional hold-down arrangements are often difficult and time consuming to attach and may not be readily adaptable to vehicles of different sizes. Furthermore, the conventional devices are generally not suited for attachment to flush surfaces, for example the deck of a container.